#27 - Anniversary
Hello hello,
I'm writing this on a laptop that's missing the 'N' key so am sort of hitting this weird rubbery nub every time I want to type 'N' and the texture is a little unnerving especially as I suspect it's delivering a small electric shock to me every time I hit it. Let me see.
NNNNNNNNNNNN. Yep. Feel a bit giddy. Better get that fixed.
It's a super bief one from me today - it's been a dull week personally and an excitable week in politics which is the breeding ground for inefficiency and so not all that much to say. Sorry too that I didn't get to this yesterday - I gave it a crack but I was a little bit deep in the feels.
You see 6th of September marks exactly a year since An Adventure opened and I had a hard-to-parse mix of pride and bereavement. I miss that show like a good friend that's moved away. There is a facsimile of them available to you through other means but the experience isn't the same. In an attempt to beat the blues, I sat down and re-read the text. Turns out I still really like it, which isn't always the case! While occasionally cringe inducing, I find that it's nice to read old plays because it's like having a conversation with your younger self. "Oh, that's what you cared about then! That's how you felt about that! Oh dear! How wonderful!"
An Adventure was the end of a certain period of both my career and my life and so that feeling is more intense than it usually is. The V&A kindly came to record the play, so I suppose I could make an appointment to go there and see it but as soon as I consider the possibility, I get a tightness in my chest. I feel like it would haunt me a little bit. There are whispers of some sort of further life for the play (though not that production) which I am probably jinxing by mentioning at all, but it'd be the first second professional run of any of my plays and I'm so fascinated to see what they're like when I've nothing to do with them. Fingers crossed.
(On that note: South London Theatre in West Norwood are kindly putting on Sticks and Stones for a few days this month. That's definitely a play that opens itself up to all sorts of productions so am fascinated to see how they've put it together. On from the 10th to the 14th and more details here)
I also re-read a letter that was sent anonymously to the Bush about a young (I think) woman's cathartic experience of seeing An Adventure. When I read it in the middle of the run I found it flattering and I was pleased the play seemed to be doing what I had hoped and reach beyond the demographic on display (the writer isn't of a British Asian background) but, reading it after the fact, the details of that woman's upbringing and her relationship with her grandparents took on their own life as a story. As I said, I've no idea who sent it and I've never wanted to mention it before but if you're reading this, do get in touch! Hopefully I'll get to hear the fullness of that story one day.
I think I can leave it there and let you enjoy your weekend. I'll be writing next week's newsletter from (or possibly on the way to) the HighTide Festival in Aldeburgh so will have plenty of seaside gossip for you then.
ViNNNNNNNNNNay x
I'm writing this on a laptop that's missing the 'N' key so am sort of hitting this weird rubbery nub every time I want to type 'N' and the texture is a little unnerving especially as I suspect it's delivering a small electric shock to me every time I hit it. Let me see.
NNNNNNNNNNNN. Yep. Feel a bit giddy. Better get that fixed.
It's a super bief one from me today - it's been a dull week personally and an excitable week in politics which is the breeding ground for inefficiency and so not all that much to say. Sorry too that I didn't get to this yesterday - I gave it a crack but I was a little bit deep in the feels.
You see 6th of September marks exactly a year since An Adventure opened and I had a hard-to-parse mix of pride and bereavement. I miss that show like a good friend that's moved away. There is a facsimile of them available to you through other means but the experience isn't the same. In an attempt to beat the blues, I sat down and re-read the text. Turns out I still really like it, which isn't always the case! While occasionally cringe inducing, I find that it's nice to read old plays because it's like having a conversation with your younger self. "Oh, that's what you cared about then! That's how you felt about that! Oh dear! How wonderful!"
An Adventure was the end of a certain period of both my career and my life and so that feeling is more intense than it usually is. The V&A kindly came to record the play, so I suppose I could make an appointment to go there and see it but as soon as I consider the possibility, I get a tightness in my chest. I feel like it would haunt me a little bit. There are whispers of some sort of further life for the play (though not that production) which I am probably jinxing by mentioning at all, but it'd be the first second professional run of any of my plays and I'm so fascinated to see what they're like when I've nothing to do with them. Fingers crossed.
(On that note: South London Theatre in West Norwood are kindly putting on Sticks and Stones for a few days this month. That's definitely a play that opens itself up to all sorts of productions so am fascinated to see how they've put it together. On from the 10th to the 14th and more details here)
I also re-read a letter that was sent anonymously to the Bush about a young (I think) woman's cathartic experience of seeing An Adventure. When I read it in the middle of the run I found it flattering and I was pleased the play seemed to be doing what I had hoped and reach beyond the demographic on display (the writer isn't of a British Asian background) but, reading it after the fact, the details of that woman's upbringing and her relationship with her grandparents took on their own life as a story. As I said, I've no idea who sent it and I've never wanted to mention it before but if you're reading this, do get in touch! Hopefully I'll get to hear the fullness of that story one day.
I think I can leave it there and let you enjoy your weekend. I'll be writing next week's newsletter from (or possibly on the way to) the HighTide Festival in Aldeburgh so will have plenty of seaside gossip for you then.
ViNNNNNNNNNNay x
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